For today’s Country artists, merchandise constitutes a revenue source of ever-increasing importance. Sales of T-shirts, hats, CDs and other items help cover the costs of the bus and road crews for emerging artists as they play smaller venues across the country. For established performers, merchandise can generate millions of dollars of annual income.
With so much on the (bottom) line, it’s no wonder that Country artists often hire professionals who understand the art and science of merchandising, from researching trends and analyzing sales statistics, to designing eye-catching products and knowing exactly where to place them at a show.
“The best-selling venue item continues to be the special photo T-shirt with a big picture of the artist, usually from a CD cover or a separate shoot,” said Bill Huntsman, Merchandise Manager for Brooks & Dunn. Josh Brown, Merchandising Manager for Dierks Bentley, agrees. “And it’s not just Country artists,” he added. “Nickelback, Metallica and Bruce Springsteen all have concert tour shirts.
Even when clients have logo-driven apparel that helps diversify their product lines, their merchandise companies know the fans want the concert T, and sales revenues back that up.”
“T-shirts are about 80 percent of all merchandise sales,” said Carl Gibbs, President, Music City Merchandise, which manages the merchandise needs for Trace Adkins, Jason Aldean, Blake Shelton, various rock bands and CMA, among other clients. “The top three colors for men are black, charcoal grey and medium blue. Pink, lavender and white are most popular for women. The brand of the shirt is also becoming increasingly important — American Apparel is especially in demand.”
While T-shirts with the artist’s image on front and tour cities on the back sell strong in every market, they rack up especially impressive numbers in smaller towns. “For example, Pocatello, Idaho, doesn’t get as many big shows as larger cities,” said Gibbs.
“You can bet Jason Aldean’s tour shirt with Pocatello on the back will sell really well. Shirts that play off big hits are also popular. At a Trace Adkins show, the ladies’ T that says ‘Can’t Blame Me for What My Mama Gave Me’ across the chest and ‘Honky Tonk Badonkadonk’ across the back usually sells out.”
After T-shirts, the next-best selling items are hats and CDs. “Headwear is becoming a great impulse buy at shows,” said Brown. “With the way hats are constructed today, almost any design is possible. If I have seven shirts for sale, my hats outsell at least three of my shirts, which tells me fans didn’t expect to see a hat with multiple design elements at the show. Frayed bills, acid washes, embroidery and screen printing all on the same hat add a lot of value to the product.”
CDs continue to sell briskly, especially among fans of older artists. “Fans are always looking for value. One way of doing this is bundling music with other products. A big seller for The Oak Ridge Boys last year around Christmas was a five-CD set with a Christmas ornament for $85,” said Terry Calonge, CEO, Richards and Southern, a merchandising firm whose clients include Reba McEntire, George Strait and Alabama, for whom the firm created its first bundle in 1984: T-shirt, cap, photo and key ring, all for $20.
Successful merchandisers strive to understand artists and their audiences in depth, as well as to study the selling trends of other performers who play to the same demographic. “We create multiple retail statements for each of our artists,” said Calonge. “For example, the first statement is usually built around the name of the album or tour. The second may focus on the personal side of the artist.”
The challenge, of course, is to design new images and artwork that are both fresh and appealing. Studying current fashion trends is essential to this process: What designs are working for a particular demographic? “My graphic artists do a great deal of in-depth research online,” said Gibbs. “Some of them also work in the rock world and can bring these elements into their Country designs. Today’s young generation listens to a variety of music. It might be metal on Friday night and Trace Adkins on Saturday. Putting a rock twist on Country merchandise works really well — skulls really do sell well in Country Music.”
Accurately predicting the makeup of the audience is one of the biggest responsibilities for merchandising managers. Having the right sizes of shirts, in the right amounts, for each venue is just as critical.
“We put together a merchandising plan for each location at each venue,” said Calonge. “We track sales every day so we know what is selling. This allows us to forecast sales by the number of tickets sold. For example, a factor of .09 means that 100 people have to buy a ticket in order to sell one T-shirt. These metrics tell us how much product we need to provide on a just-in-time basis. On average, we turn over our complete inventory every 3.3 days.”
Season-appropriate clothing also drives merchandise sales. “Dierks’ song, ‘What Was I Thinkin’,” is about a girl in a little white tank top,” said Brown. “Our white tank top sells well every summer, but sales taper off during the colder months.”
Of course, when it’s 10 degrees outside, impulse buys of tank tops bottom out. But that’s when hoodie sales take off. “If you do an outdoor show where it’s chilly or rains, you can sell sweatshirts, long-sleeve shirts or ponchos as fast as you can get them out of your truck,” said Huntsman.
Fans expect to make their purchases quickly at concert venues. “In order to get large gross sales, a line has to turn quickly or sales will be left on the table,” advised Brown. “A 12-to-15-item product line can make more money than a 25-to-30-item product line because fans have fewer choices to consider and hence make up their minds faster, which means the next person in line doesn’t have to wait as long.”
Merchandise is not just a profit center. It’s also a powerful marketing tool that builds an artist’s brand. Good merchandise numbers, then, can also accelerate an artist’s rise toward better-paying gigs. “Merchandise sales are a good indicator of an artist’s popularity,” said Todd Cayce, Account Manager, Richards and Southern. “When headliners are looking for supporting acts on the road, they’ll always check out their merchandise numbers.”
Artists who pay close attention to their fans tend to sell the most merchandise. Some even get involved in the design process. “Justin Moore came to us in the beginning with the idea of branding himself with a rooster and using the double-O in his last name to look like a double-barreled shotgun,” said Cayce. “Our graphic art team took his idea and made it come to life. Justin’s rooster logo and shotgun barrel can be seen on his backdrop and on all of his merchandise.”
“I’m a hands-on guy in everything I do,” Moore confirmed. “Merchandise is a huge opportunity for emerging artists to build their brand. In the video for ‘Back That Thing Up,’ there’s a rooster crowing in the beginning. I was thinking, ‘How can I use that to be different?’ I’m also a big hunter, and the NRA is one of my sponsors, so the double-barreled shotgun makes a lot of sense.
“Merchandising is a huge opportunity for every artist,” Moore concluded. “It’s cool for the fans to know you designed the shirt or were personally involved in the creative process. Whatever your merchandise is, just be sure it reflects your personality and your music. You don’t want to be endorsing an image that’s not true to who you are.”
